About Gwen

Burnt out, run down, exhausted, overweight, anxious, and unhappy with life…

Oh hello, My name is Gwen.

I’m a mom to two spicy littles, a wife (girlfriend actually) and a Certified Functional Medicine Life and Wellness Coach.

I am SPICY about helping empower women to prioritise themselves, their body, their life and their dreams — because about 10 years ago I was living as a shell of a human, even though from the outside life LOOKED pretty damn good.

I was running a successful business, I had 2 healthy little kids, lived in a beautiful home in a beautiful town… All good things, and yet I was struggling to notice.

I was overweight and uncomfortable in my body: I hated it and felt shame and resentment every single time I looked in the mirror, and in return it felt really horrible. I was extremely bloated (no, I’m not pregnant!) and had stomach cramps so bad I slept on the couch most nights (this didn’t do wonders for my relationship, I promise).

I was dealing with anxiety for the first time ever and often woke up sweating and stressing, with my jaw clenched so hard I would have a headache all day. I hated getting dressed because everything felt tight and uncomfortable and I didn't want to see myself in the mirror. It became easier for me to pretend I didn’t care about clothes…

Shockingly, (not) I was also short tempered, resentful and unhappy. And I had an uncomfortable edge that I immediately felt ashamed of… What the hell was with me, right!?

The combination of supporting my husband as he navigated an autoimmune disease diagnosis and using food/lifestyle as medicine, combined with hustling to grow my business while home with 2 kids under 5 was starting to weigh on me, and it was getting too heavy to hold up.

In reality it was a slow burn that had started years before. Years (maybe a lifetime?) of trying to make everyone happy and putting myself and my needs last was catching up — leaving me feeling empty, resentful, and joyless.

Not exactly my life goals!

I remember feeling like there was nothing I could do to stop the sensation of drowning.

But I’m a strong swimmer (grew up swimming in the Pacific Ocean every day it was seasonally an option) and I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. So instead of sinking to the bottom, I started my journey out of the depths of my self perpetuated suffering…

And I kept track of every single tiny action and step that I took along the way.

This is what ultimately led me to working most often with busy, high achieving women, mothers who are doing ALL THE THINGS, and die-hard people pleasers who feel like they're running a million miles an hour but they’re always 10 steps behind. (Any of this familiar?)

Feeling like hot garbage, overweight, resentful, rundown, overwhelmed, joyless, unfulfilled, or burnt out is NOT a good way to live life. And not a good way to show up for the people we love. And not normal. And just not what our life is meant to be!

If you want to learn more, or if you want to say hello and share your story, please do so by jumping to the “contact me” page and tell me everything. Tell me what’s happening, what your dreams are, what you need help with, what you want out of your life.

This is a safe place my sweet friend, and I’m here for it all.

Xox,

Gwen Johnson, FMCHC